Lebanon boys basketball shoots its way past Goffstown for win
It’s been a tough stretch for high school sports teams, thanks to school cancellations and game postponements.
GOFFSTOWN – It’s been a tough stretch for high school sports teams, thanks to school cancellations and game postponements.
The Lebanon High School boys basketball team would be included in that group, having gone more than a week without a real practice. Instead, coach Kieth Matte has had his team run through a 45-minute prep session before each game.
Seems to be working all right for the Raiders, as they took a 20-point lead in the first quarter Thursday night and never looked back, rolling past Goffstown for a 76-35 win in Division II action.
Ryan Milliken led the Lebanon barrage, scoring 26 points in a little more than two quarters of action. The senior hit five of the Raiders’ 11 3-pointers, as Lebanon ended the first quarter with a 20-0 run and topped it with a 22-0 run to finish the second.
“The kids were ready to say ‘coach why do we ever practice?'” Matte said. “Let’s not have practice. We actually shot before we got on the bus. We’ve been practicing for 45 minutes before we get on the bus because we’ve had no practice. The kids are ready to say what’s the point.
“They all know what we’re going to call for plays before we call them. I’ve had these guys a long time. They’re sick of my practices and they know what to do. It’s fun to watch. All the coaches, we’re just enjoying watching them play.”
Graham Chickering added 15 points for Lebanon (12-1) and Christopher Nulty had nine points on three 3-pointers while Hunter Bienvenu came off the bench to chip in with eight.
Goffstown (7-7) had scoreless droughts of more than five minutes in each of the first two quarters and trailed 50-13 at halftime. The Grizzlies got eight points from Connor Hujsak and seven from Colby Putnam, as they were without Ryan Hall and Jared Heidenreich.
“They have a lot of tools,” Goffstown coach Mike Gasper said of Lebanon. “They’re going to be toughest out. Chickering quietly is one of the better players in the state. Milliken was unbelievable.”
Milliken led a 3-point-shooting clinic in the first quarter, as he and Nulty hit five of shots from behind the arc in the first eight minutes. After Goffstown got a couple of baskets to open the second quarter, it was more of the same for the Raiders, who made eight 3s in the first half.
“That was the best half we’ve played all year, definitely,” Milliken said. “We kind of just played really good defense and turned that into our offense. We passed the ball around really well and just played as a team. We have a lot of guys on our team that can just play basketball.”
A pair of 3s by Milliken and KJ Matte (five points) in the final 30 seconds of the half gave Lebanon a 37-point lead at the break. The Raiders opened the third with a 10-1 run, capped by another 3 by Milliken that made it 60-14.
“Many of those jump shots, I thought were contested, and he finds a way,” Gasper said. “He’s a good player. For my money, that’s the best team, I think.”
